James H. Cousins
James Henry Cousins (July 22, 1873 - February 20, 1956) was an Irish poet, playwright, actor, critic, editor, and teacher. He used several pseudonyms including Mac Oisín and the Hindu name Jayaram.Cousins at Keio Life Cousins was born at 18 Kevor Street in Belfast, Ireland, the descendant of Huguenot refugees. He was largely self-educated at night schools, and after working some time as a clerk became private secretary and speechwriter to Sir Daniel Dixon, 1st Baronet, the Lord Mayor of Belfast. In 1897 he moved to Dublin where he became part of a literary circle which included William Butler Yeats, George William Russell and James Joyce. He is believed to have served as a model for the Little Chandler character in Joyce's short story collection Dubliners. Cousins was significantly influenced by Russell's ability to reconcile mysticism with a pragmatic approach to social reforms and by the teachings of Madame Blavatsky. He had a lifelong interest in the paranormal and acted as reporter in several experiments carried out by William Fletcher Barrett, Professor of physics at Dublin University and one of the founders of the Society for Psychical Research. Cousins produced several books of poetry whilst in Ireland and as well as acting in the first production of Cathleen Ní Houlihan (under the stage name of H. Sproule) with the famous Irish revolutionary and beauty Maud Gonne in the title role, his plays were produced in the first years of the Twentieth century in the Abbey Theatre, the most famous being “the Racing Lug”. However after a dispute with W.B.Yeats, who objected to 'too much Cousins' the Irish National Theatre movement split with two-thirds of the actors and writers siding with Cousins against Yeats. He also wrote widely on the subject of Theosophy and in 1915 Cousins travelled to India with the voyage fees paid for by Annie Besant the President of the Theosophical Society. He spent most of the rest of his life in the sub-continent, apart from a year as Professor of English Literature at Keio University in Tokyo and another lecturing in New York. Towards the end of his life he converted to Hinduism. At the core of Cousins's engagement with Indian culture was a firm belief in the "shared sensibilities between Celtic and Oriental peoples". In India he became friendly with many key Indian personalities including poet Rabindranath Tagore, Indian classical dancer Rukmini Devi Arundale, painter Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Mahatma Gandhi. He wrote a joint autobiography with his wife Margaret Elizabeth Cousins (formerly Gretta Gillespie), a suffragette and one of the co-founders of the Irish Women's Franchise League and All India Women's Conference (AIWC). Writing In The Future Poetry, Sri Aurobindo has acclaimed Cousins' New Ways in English Literature as "literary criticism which is of the first order, at once discerning and suggestive, criticism which forces us both to see and think." He has also acknowledged that he learnt to intuit deeper being alerted by Cousins' criticisms of his poems. In 1920 Cousins came to Pondicherry to meet the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. The appreciation is palpable in the following citations: From The Future Poetry by Sri Aurobindo: : "It will be more fruitful to take the main substance of the matter for which the body of Mr.Cousins' criticism gives a good material. Taking the impression it creates for a starting-point and the trend of English poetry for our main text, but casting our view farther back into the past, we may try to sound what the future has to give us through the medium of the poetic mind and its power for creation and interpretation. The issues of recent activity are still doubtful and it would be rash to make any confident prediction; but there is one possibility which this book strongly suggests and which it is at least interesting and may be fruitful to search and consider. That possibility is the discovery of a closer approximation to what we might call the mantra in poetry that rhythmic speech which, as the Veda puts it, rises at once from the heart of the seer and from the distant home of the Truth, — the discovery of the word, the divine movement, the form of thought proper to the reality which, as Mr. Cousins excellently says, :" lies in the apprehension of a something stable behind the instability of word and deed, something that is reflection of the fundamental passion of humanity for something beyond itself, something that is a dim foreshadowing of the divine urge which is prompting all creation to unfold itself and to rise out of its limitations towards its Godlike possibilities. Poetry in the past has done that in moments of supreme elevation; in the future there seems to be some chance of its making it a more conscious aim and steadfast endeavour." See also * List of Irish poets *List of Irish writers Publications Poetry *''Ben Madighan, and other poems''. Belfast & New York: Marcus Ward, 1894. *''The Legend of the Blemished King, and other poems''. Dublin: Bernard Doyle, 1897. *''The Voice of One''. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1900. *''The Quest. Dublin: Maunsel, 1906. *The Awakening, and other sonnets. Dublin: Maunsel, 1907. *The Bell-Branch. Dublin: Maunsel, 1908. *Etain the Beloved, and other poems. Dublin: Maunsel, 1912. *Straight and Crooked. London: Grant Richards, 1915. *''The Garland of Life: Poems west and east. Madras: Ganesh, 1917. *''Ode to Truth''. Madras: Ganesh, 1919.Search results = au:James H. Cousins, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, June 15, 2014. *''Moulted Feathers'' Madras: Ganesh 1919. *''Sea-Change''. Madras: Ganesh, 1920. *''Surya-Gita: Sun songs. Madras: Ganesh, 1922. *''Forest Meditation, and other poems. Madras: Theosophical Publishing, 1925. *''Above the Rainbow, and other poems''. Madras: Ganesh, 1926. *''The Girdle: Poems''. Madras: Ganesh, 1929. *''A Wandering Harp: Selected poems''. New York: Roerich Museum Press, 1932. *''A Bardic Pilgrimage: Second selection of the poetry of James H. Cousins''. New York: Roerich Museum Press, 1934. *''The Oracle, and other poems''. Madras: Ganesh 1938. *''Collected Poems, 1894-1940''. Adyra, Madras: Kalākshetra, 1940.Collected Poems, 1894-1940, Abe Books. Web, June 15, 2014. *''Reflections before Sunset: Poems''. Adyra, Madras: Kalākshetra, 1946. Plays *''The King's Wife''. Madras: Ganesh, 1919. *''The Sword of Dermot''. Madras: Shama's Publishing, 1927. *''The Hound of Uladh: Two plays in verse''. Adyar, Madras: Kalâkshetra, 1942. *"The Racing Lug", in United Irishman (5 July 1902) ** reprinted in Lost Plays of the Irish Literary Renaissance (edited by Robert Hogan & James Kilroy). Delaware: Proscenium Press / University of Delaware Press, 1970). *''A Tibetan Banner''. Madras: Ganesh, 1926. *''The Sleep of the King: One-act poetic drama; and The sword of Dermot: A three-act tragedy'' (introduction by William A Dumbleton). Chicago: De Paul University Press (Irish Drama Series, Vol. 8), 1973. Fiction *''The Story of Etain: A Celtic myth and an interpretation''. Dublin?: Society in Ireland?, 1929?. Non-fiction *''A Modern Geography: For Irish intermediate schools''. Dublin: Maunsell, 1909. *''The Wisdom of the West: an Introduction to the interpretative study of Irish mythology''. London: Theosophical Society (Mythological Series), 1912. *''The Bases of Theosophy''. Madras, Benares, & Chicago: Theosophical Publishing, 1913. *''War: A theosophical view''. London: Theosophical Society, 1914. *''New Ways in English Literature''. Madrash: Ganesh, 1917. *''The Renaissance in India''. Madras: Ganesh, 1918. *''Footsteps of Freedom: Essays''. Madras: Ganesh, 1919. *''Modern English Poetry: Its characteristics and tendencies''. Madras: Ganesh, 1921. *''The Kingdom of Youth: Essays toward national education''. Madras: Ganesh, 1921. *''The Play of Brahma: An essay on the drama in national revival. Bangalore: Amateur Dramatic Assn., 1921. *''The Cultural Unity of Asia. Madras: Theosophical Publishing, 1922. *''Work and Worship: Essays on culture and creative art. Madras: Ganesh, 1922. *The New Japan: Impressions and reflections (with 74 illustrations). Madras: Ganesh, 1923. *''Two great Theosophist Painters: Jean Delville, Nicholas Roerich''. Madras: Theosophical Publishing, 1925. *''The Philosophy of Beauty''. Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing, 1925. *''Heathen Essays''. Madras: Ganesh, 1925. *''Samadarsana, Synthetic Vision: A study in Indian psychology''. Madras: Ganesh, 1925. *''Educational Fundamantals''. Adyar, Madras: Brahmavidya Ashrama, 1926. *''The Work Promethean: Interpretations and applications of Shelley's poetry''. Madras: Ganesh, 1933; Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1970. *''A Study in Synthesis''. Madras: Ganesh, 1934. *''The Faith of the Artist: Essays''. Adyar, Madras: Kalakshetra, 1941. *''The Aesthetical Necessity in Life''. Allahabad, Kitabistan: Madras Univeristy, 1944. *''We Two Together'' (autobiography; with Margaret E. Cousins). Madras: Ganesh, 1950. Edited *''The Annie Besant Centenary Book, 1847-1947''. Adyar, Madras: Besant Centenary Celebrations Committee, 1947. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Ricorso.net.Works, James H. Cousins (1873-1956), Ricorso.net, Web, June 15, 2014. References *''A Wandering Harp: James H. Cousins, a Study''. C.N. Mangala. (B.R. Publishing, 1995). *''James Henry Cousins: A Study of His Works in the Light of Theosophical Movement''. Dilip Kumar Chatterjee. (South Asia Books, 1994). *''James Cousins''. William A. Dumbleton. (Twayne Publishing, 1980). /250/105.html] Notes External links ;Poems *"High and Low" * "A Curse on a Closed Gate" (translated from the Irish) * "The Wings of Love" *James H. Cousins in the Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse: "The Quest," "Vision" ;About *James H. Cousins (1873-1956) at Ricorso.net. *James H. Cousins (1873-1956) at Theosophical Order of Service, U.S.A. *"An Indo-Anglian Legacy" at The Hindu Category:1873 births Category:1956 deaths Category:Irish poets Category:Irish writers Category:Irish people of French descent Category:Irish dramatists and playwrights Category:Irish Theosophists Category:People from Belfast Category:Sri Aurobindo Category:Converts to Hinduism Category:Irish Hindus Category:Keio University faculty Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Mystic poets Category:Poets